The Supreme Federal Court (STF) was set to review on Thursday morning (14th) the decision by Minister Luiz Fux that ordered the government to adopt measures to prevent betting with money from social programs and to prohibit advertising aimed at children and adolescents. The meeting was postponed due to the bomb attacks that occurred last night. The STF will remain closed at least until 12 PM for a search for new explosive devices at its headquarters.
The president of the Court, Luís Roberto Barroso, had called an extraordinary virtual plenary session to judge the case at the request of Fux, scheduling the start of the meeting for 11 AM. Due to two bomb attacks early Wednesday evening (13th), in the parking lot of the Chamber of Deputies and in front of the STF headquarters at the Three Powers Plaza, the Court will be closed at least until noon.
In a dispatch early Wednesday afternoon (13th), the minister requested that the president of the Supreme, Luís Roberto Barroso, schedule a date for the decision to be endorsed by the other ministers, which was subsequently done. According to Barroso, the request was accepted due to the “grounded exceptionality of the case”.
Fux is the rapporteur of actions that question the law that regulated sports betting. In his decision, the minister also ordered that the rules provided in a decree from the Ministry of Finance, which prohibit advertising and propaganda of betting sites directed at children and adolescents, be applied immediately.
The decision of the minister was made in two actions, presented by the National Confederation of Commerce of Goods, Services and Tourism and by the Solidarity party. The CNC cited the economic, social, and health impacts on bettors and requested that the STF declare the law that regulates bets unconstitutional.
The Attorney General's Office also presented an action questioning and requesting the repeal of the law. Given the complexity of the topic, the minister scheduled two public hearings, which took place this week, to discuss the effects of bets.
Fux stated in the decision that the debates in the hearings presented evidence of the “significant and detrimental impacts” of betting advertising on the mental health of children and adolescents and of betting on the family budgets of people benefiting from social and assistance programs.
“It is evident that the current scenario of insufficient protection, with immediate detrimental effects, especially on children, adolescents, and the family budgets of beneficiaries of assistance programs, constitutes a manifest periculum in mora, which must be immediately removed, under penalty of the non-application of norms already issued, until January 2025, worsening the already critical current situation”, wrote Fux.
Source: GMB
